The present invention relates to a method for servicing and maintaining thermal equipment, water treatment equipment and the like, which is employed between a facility site that concludes a servicing and maintenance contract regarding the thermal equipment, water treatment equipment and the like, and a management center, as well as to a system for servicing and maintaining thermal equipment, water treatment equipment and the like, which is established between a facility site that concludes a servicing and maintenance contract regarding the thermal equipment, water treatment equipment and the like, and a management center.
In recent years, with development of electronic technique and communication technique, automatic control of thermal equipment, for example, is provided with microcomputers and modems, and executed by a servicing and maintenance system using communication lines. More particularly, the thermal equipment installed in a facility site is equipped with various sensors that detect operating states of the thermal equipment, as well as with a thermal equipment controller that selects operating conditions of the thermal equipment based on signals from these various sensors. A control unit of a remote management center and the heat supply equipment controller of the heat supply equipment are connected to a communication line through a modem that can perform automatic transmittance and reception of data. This enables the thermal equipment to report the operating states thereof to the management center in real time, and enables the management center to perform servicing and maintenance of the thermal equipment based on the reported operating states.
The thermal equipment is serviced and maintained by the above-stated servicing and maintenance system. Accordingly, if an abnormal halt of the thermal equipment occurs, the abnormal halt is reported to the control unit of the remote management center through a communication line. In the management center, upon reception of the report on the abnormal halt of the thermal equipment, a data analyst collects information on the reported abnormal halt through use of the control unit, analyzes the cause thereof, and dispatches a maintenance man to the facility site for performing maintenance service such as repair works.
However, there has been a problem that when the maintenance man is on the way to the site or checking for the cause of the abnormality, the thermal equipment is left halted, and the halt period if elongated would incur a lot of loss to the facility site (Larger distance between the facility site and the management center causes later arrival of the maintenance man and longer halt period of the thermal equipment, thereby incurring larger loss).
Further, in the above servicing and maintenance system, there bas been a need of making a telephone call to the management center and talking with a person in charge of the management center for handling of the thermal equipment, inquiry, confirmation, and getting information on the price and delivery date of expendables and the like.
Accordingly, the present invention is to be made with consideration of the above-described circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a method and a system for servicing and maintaining thermal equipment, water treatment equipment and the like, which fulfills a prompt countermeasure against an abnormality and eliminates a tiresome procedure of getting information.
In order to accomplish the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, a method for servicing and maintaining thermal equipment, water treatment equipment and the like, performed between one or more facility sites that have thermal equipment and/or water treatment equipment and conclude a servicing and maintenance contract regarding the thermal equipment and/or water treatment equipment, and a management center that performs servicing and maintenance of the thermal equipment and/or water treatment equipment in the corresponding facility site and has a database for storing various information on the thermal equipment and/or water treatment equipment, through use of a communication line, comprises the steps of: reading requested information when a request to provide each of the various information is transmitted from an information retrieval unit installed in the facility site to a control unit installed in the management center through the communication line; and transmitting the requested information read from the database to the information retrieval unit through the communication line.
In order to accomplish the above object, according to a second aspect of the present invention, a system for servicing and maintaining thermal equipment, water treatment equipment and the like, established between one or more facility sites that have thermal equipment and/or water treatment equipment and that conclude a servicing and maintenance contract regarding the thermal equipment and/or water treatment equipment, and a management center that performs servicing and maintenance of the thermal equipment and/or water treatment equipment in the corresponding facility site, comprises a communication line for connecting the facility site and the management center, the management center having a database for storing various information on the thermal equipment and/or water treatment equipment and a control unit for reading requested information from the database in response to a request of the facility site to provide the various information on the thermal equipment and/or water treatment equipment and transmitting the requested information read from the database to the facility site through the communication line, the facility site having an information retrieval unit that is capable of requesting the control unit to provide the various information through the communication line, receiving the requested information transmitted from the control unit through the communication line, and confirming contents thereof.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the system for servicing and maintaining thermal equipment, water treatment equipment and the like as defined in the second aspect, the information retrieval unit is disposed in the thermal device and/or water treatment device, or in the vicinity thereof.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the information retrieval unit installed in the facility site requests the control unit installed in the management center to provide various information through the communication line, there is carried out a step for reading requested information from the database. Next, there is carried out a step for transmitting the requested information read from the database to the information retrieval unit through the communication line. Thus, the facility site can get requested information. If, for example, the requested information is about QandA or troubleshooting regarding an abnormality occurred in the thermal equipment and/or water treatment equipment, maintenance work can be done in some degree till a maintenance man arrives at the facility site. In some cases, dispatch of a maintenance man may become unnecessary. This enables the facility site to shorten a halt period and enables the management center to reduce frequency of dispatching a maintenance man. If the requested information is about setting values or management values of the thermal equipment and/or water treatment equipment, they may be utilized in a periodic inspection or in occurrence of an abnormality, and they save the facility site storing and managing past data on trial operation and every periodic inspection. If the requested information is about components of the thermal equipment and/or water treatment equipment, there may be obtained information on a lifetime of the component, delivery date or price when ordered and component specifications. Further, if the requested information is about handling of the thermal equipment and/or water treatment equipment, there may be obtained information on handling, setting, cleaning and maintenance of each component. The stated above is described on condition that a servicing and maintenance contract should be concluded. It is noted that information is obtainable without a tiresome procedure of making contact with a person in charge of the management center by telephone.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the servicing and maintenance system is established between a facility site that has thermal equipment and/or water treatment equipment, and a management center that performs servicing and maintenance of the thermal equipment and/or water treatment equipment, based on a servicing and maintenance contract regarding the thermal equipment and/or water treatment equipment concluded between the facility site and the management center. The management center is provided with a database and a control unit, while the facility site is provided with an information retrieval unit. Between the facility site and the management center, there is provided a communication line. The database stores various information on the thermal equipment and/or water treatment equipment, whereas the control unit reads requested information from the database in response to a request of the facility site to provide the various information on the thermal equipment and/or water treatment equipment and transmits the requested information read from the database to the facility site through the communication line. The information retrieval unit requests the control unit to provide the various information through the communication line, and receives the requested information transmitted from the control unit through the communication line. This enables the facility site to confirm contents of the received information. It is noted that information is obtainable without a tiresome procedure. In confirming the contents of the received information, if, for example, the requested information is about QandA or troubleshooting regarding an abnormality occurred in the thermal equipment and/or water treatment equipment, maintenance work can be done in some degree till a maintenance man arrives at the facility site. In some cases, dispatch of a maintenance man may become unnecessary. This enables the facility site to shorten a halt period and enables the management center to reduce frequency of dispatching a maintenance man. If the requested information is about setting values or management values of the thermal equipment and/or water treatment equipment, they may be utilized in a periodic inspection or in occurrence of an abnormality, and they save the facility site storing and managing past data on trial operation and every periodic inspection. If the requested information is about components of the thermal equipment and/or water treatment equipment, there may be obtained information on a lifetime of the component, delivery date or price when ordered and component specifications. Further, if the requested information is about handling of the thermal equipment and/or water treatment equipment, there may be obtained information on handling, setting, cleaning and maintenance of each component.